Robberbaron

I got the recent reissue '75 (?) Dart Sport a year or two ago. Just eyeballing it after I purchased it, but it seemed like the Hemi was quite underscale.

Wow, this brings back memories! My older brother got these X-EL price lists. I remember looking over it and wishing I had the funds for pretty much all of them. Alas, being in junior high, all my lawn-mowing earnings were already stretched thin purchasing regular off-the-shelf kits. My brother did end up getting several of the ones on this list, including the black/red '58 Olds, the burgundy '57 Olds, and the pink '58 Caddy. Also interesting to seeing which Johan kits were still available at this time. I'm thinking the Rebel Machine and Pro Stock Maverick must have been discontinued shortly after this. I clearly remember having both of those on my "future buy" list around this time, but they disappeared from the LHS shelves before I could get them.

My HL also still has the roadsters, so I picked up a second. My original plan was to buy multiples of the '30 coupe since that had the extra set of Halibrands in it, so in my book it would have been better for the parts trove. But at this point, I'm thinking grab the roadsters while they're still available. My HL also never got the '30 in stock, though they had an open space reserved on the shelf for a few months for it until recently. No way for us to know exactly what parts of the tooling are damaged, but I agree that it would be nice to see them correct some of the shortcomings if they're cutting new tooling for the nailhead (port spacing/headers) and the coupe interior (skeleton interior panels). And if they need to redo the coupe body, PLEASE get rid of that Deuce-style roof insert! I realize that it was a deliberate decision by Revell's design team, but in my book it just makes sense to have a stock style roof. I also realize that this is all probably wishful thinking. Quickest and dirtiest way to get these kits back in production would be to duplicate the existing tooling exactly, which is what I expect will happen...

Doh! 100% correct, for whatever reason I was reading Fury but picturing the Dart.

Just remember that the body for the '62 Fury got hacked up to use in the Revellion funny car (although it's actually not butchered as badly as some other classic tools were). Badges and trim remained intact on the body. Even if the remainder of the annual version does still exist (interior, glass, chassis, etc.), you've got to wonder if Revell would ever be willing to restore the body. After all, it is a 4-door. I do believe the roofline was shared with the 2-doors, so theoretically they could convert it to a 2 door hardtop, or even a post car, but now your getting into the realm of "is it any cheaper than just creating a new tool from scratch?"

Testors used to make a Candy Pink that looked EXACTLY like that when sprayed over black. Back in the '80s my brother had a can he wasn't going to use, so he gave it to me. When sprayed over white or silver it was a very bright sort of magenta shade (they may have called it candy purple, but it definitely was closest to pink). Being young and poor, I was dead set on using it, so I decided to spray it over Testors black on a Johan Comet Pro Stock kit. Turned out the way you describe: looked black under normal light, unless it was next to one of my pure black models. You could also see the plum effect if it was in bright sunlight. I was quite pleased with the results at the time, and it was one of my favorite builds. Later in the '90s I decided to blow it apart and try to rebuild it closer to factory stock (the nose up stance was totally out of vogue in 1:1 at the time). Stripped the body in Pine Sol, and everything has been sitting in a box ever since. Now I wish I would have let it be...

REALLY like this one! Great build of a sweet car that's seldom seen in 1:1, much less in scale. You and your dad can be proud of these.

Beautiful job. Don't think I've ever seen one of these before. Sure looks like a Chrysler Airflow.

I'll chime in while being no help at all, and remind everyone about the old multi-piece body Revell '57 Ranchero, which...also has the front guards. Although, if you do want a rear bumper with the correct short guards for the wagon, the Ranchero does have those. So if you have one of those buried in your stash, there's finally something you can use out of it...

Think the first gen Olds Rocket topped out at 394 c.i., so that would be possible too. As Marc said, could be any of those displacements. Since this kit was designed in the early-to-mid '60s, starting with a 394 would have been the hot ticket in a 1:1, with a 371 the next choice. Also keep in mind a 1:1 engine could be bored and or stroked to increase the factory displacement, so there's really no definite answer. (I have no idea what kind of rules/limitations there might have been in the gas classes regarding displacements and the altering of such)

Sure it's not the other way? First issue of the wagon (police/stock) had the guards on the front, none on the rear. Box art for the gasser seems to show the blue/white stock version still with front guards. When Revell was originally showing test shots of the wagon, they were using the original sedan version of the rear bumper, with the taller guards. It was pointed out that 1:1 wagons had shorty bumper guards to prevent damage to the tailgate. Revell listened (kinda): their version of a fix was to just get rid of the rear guards altogether. Some people prefer that look, but it's not factory. I compared the trees from my sedan and wagon kits, and it looked like they just smoothed out the rear bumper from the sedan instead of tooling a separate wagon bumper. If the rear bumper in the gasser wagon does have guards, are they the correct short style? I'm also curious if the next reissue of the sedan will have any rear guards.

Yup. Luckily in 1/25 that's pretty much a non-issue. Not sure about 70-72, but for the 73-77 generation all the round gauge cluster surrounds were molded with the "camera case" pattern, which was GM terminology for a leather appearance. You're correct that for the SS models, this was just molded in black - no woodgrain. The Montes did have that woodgrain overlay glued over it (seems almost like those overlays are vacuformed). Same for the Malibu Classic and I believe the 74-76 Laguna Type S-3. I once tried to pop the woodgrain overlay off a Monte gauge surround because I thought it would look better in my Malibu with just the black leather grain finish. Learned the hard way that they used some tough adhesive for those. Couldn't find a way to get it off the plastic without destroying it. Eventually I lucked out and stumbled across a 74 El Camino SS 454 in a local junkyard and scored a perfect gauge surround, probably the only decent part left on the whole truck...

Any of the Chevelle SS kits should already have the round gauge package that was shared with the Monte Carlo, and I'm assuming, the El Camino SS (as opposed to the basic Chevelle/El Camino gauge package with the "strip" speedometer). Monte Carlos always shared the same dashboards as their equivalent Chevelle/Malibu/El Camino, and always had the round gauge arrangement like the Chevelle SS (I believe full instrumentation with tach, ammeter, etc. was a separate additional option though, same as the Montes). Same goes for the 73-77 generation. El Camino SS had round gauges standard. Full instrumentation was optional for lesser El Caminos (was a pretty common option). Starting in 1975, the Econominder package offered a vacuum gauge in place of the tach. The tach was still available, but very seldom ordered.

I agree, lots of difficulties in trying to mash up an accurate looking '70 Elco from these different kits. I think I agree with Mark and Steve, best to keep most of the '68 fenders intact and just swap the front portion of whatever your 1970 donor kit would be. Not only are the 1970 El Camino (and 1970 wagon) fenders missing the "bulges" that the 1970 Chevelle coupes and sedans had, the lower portion of the Elco fender has a body line indent thats different from the '70 coupe, in order to match up with the 68/69 style doors and quarters that got carried over. The '70 coupes and sedans DO have a lower body line somewhat similar, but it's not as sharp as the 68/69 style. In a similar fashion, the 1970 El Camino front fenders also have a lip around the wheel opening, again to match with the rear wheel openings of the 68/69 style quarters. The 1970 Chevelle coupe/sedan wheel openings do not have a lip stamped into the sheetmetal. This is a bit hard to notice on a Chevelle with wheel well moldings, but if you compare 1970 Chevelle and El Camino images, the difference should be pretty obvious. I think making the cut right in front of the front wheel well is the best way to preserve all these elements of the '70 front fenders. Another complication that Mark already mentioned is that the new tool AMT '68 Elco is a bit wider than it should be. Over the years I've seen several discussions where the agreement was that this kit is larger than 1/25, and possibly actually closer to 1/24. The front end is significantly wider than the AMT 69 Chevelle front bumper/grille assembly, which of course SHOULD swap on in the 1:1 world. So maybe the old Monogram 1/24 front end would be the best fit? I agree that the Revell Snap kit is the best looking 1970 Chevelle kit available. To me it's the only one that gets the nose and the fender/quarter bulges correct. The old 1/24 Monogram and the backdated AMT both don't seem to have the proportions quite right for the front end. Can't say exactly why each of them looks wrong, they just have the "Fargo" problem: "They're just kinda funny lookin', in a general sort of way..."

I'm also glad to see this one coming back. I have a first issue stock-only version, but missed the 2 in 1 reissue during my brief modeling hiatus. By the time I learned about all the good stuff (2 complete engines, Supremes, etc.), they were gone from the shelves of my LHS. If I really NEEDED one I could have sought one out online, but nice to see it will be widely available again. I believe the old Round 2 website did show the Starliner as a 2008 release, so it has been 8 years. I don't mind them bringing it back. If the prices have crept up enough on the secondary market to indicate the demand is there, I have no problem with them making some (relatively) easy money. Also, speaking of newer designed kits getting the fake retro treatment, a couple more that I'm amazed that we hadn't seen from Round 2 Corp. yet are the '34 Ford 5-window and the '55 Chevy sedan. I recently picked up an original issue stock '34 5-window, and was surprised to learn it actually had some optional speed parts for the flathead that weren't listed on the box. If Round 2 were to reissue this one also including the street rod parts so that there are multiple build options, plus some retro box art, I think they would have a winner on their hands. I believe someone mentioned that one of the older RC2 reissues actually did include parts for both versions. If that's the case, that indicates that it's at least possible. For the '55 Chevy sedan, the key would be to include the gasser parts from the original '55 Nomad, including the straight axle, AND clearly indicate this on the box art! Gasser madness is the "in thing" right now, why not strike while the iron is hot? The '55 sedan really is just a highly modified variation of one of the original Trophy series kits. Slap some retro style gasser box art on that thing, and it'll sell itself, helped by the fact that it's the only game in town if you want a '55 sedan. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/101305-amt-55-chevy-bel-air-drag-version/

Been a lot of discussion lately on a couple.different threads here about the shortcomings of the AMT '62, mostly concerning the headlights and front fender contours. The 2 above pictures show that the back end also needs some help. Looks like the inner tail lights on the AMT are a couple scale inches too far inboard. With all the work you've put into this body, you may want to consider correcting that if you haven't gone to paint yet. EDIT: After posting I just realized the 1:1 pic is a '63! Nevertheless, I think the AMT inner lights are still a bit too far inboard.

I've probably bought about 14 of the Monogram '86 Monte Carlo SS kits (although it's really an '85 with '86+ mirrors and wheels)

There's an awful lot of it out there now, though. Unfortunately, it seems like the majority of the American public either doesn't pay attention or just doesn't care. I suppose to most millennials, the Vietnam War might as well be ancient history, never mind the Korean War and China's role in that.

Pretty much sums it up. This is another reason I keep adding to my kit stockpile. All it takes is one spark to set off the powderkeg, and it's really only a matter of time. Manufacturing in a communist country really is equivalent to making a deal with the devil. The smart countries like China play with the rules of capitalism just enough to bend it to their advantage, but when push comes to shove their government can and will change the rules at their whim. Don't expect to ever see any of the classic American-made kit tooling shipped out of China en masse for a company to shift production elsewhere. Once the manure hits the fan, it's dunzo. Seeing more and more products made in Vietnam now, and even Cambodia. As a kid during the eighties, I never would have believed we would see that. Imagine it's all just a different side of the same coin, as far as dealing with those regimes. Just today we learned we are getting new Carhartt company coats at my workplace, with 2 styles to choose from. Went back to our warehouse to check out which style I wanted. The classic black denim style is made in America, as I'm used to seeing. The gray style (weird polyester-type material) is made in Cambodia of all places. Guess which style I picked...

For the record, after the Sox & Martin version with the corrected distributor, they did at least one more run of the 2n1 version, which now also has the corrected part. I got mine about a year ago when my local Hobby Lobby finally decided to start carrying it (they never got in the first run version, which actually worked out well for me). Chances are that any brick and mortar retailer that has one of these on the shelf will have this newer version. Buying online or at swap meets is always a carp shoot, you might still get a first run with the 7 nubs. (Maybe there's a way to tell by a code on the box somewhere? Never researched it because I'm not planning to buy any additional ones)

My grandfather had a wood-grained Matador wagon just like this, but metallic blue instead of yellow. Lotta fond memories of riding around in it when we were kids. Funny thing is that I never thought it was ugly or wierd looking. I've been car-obsessed as long as I can remember, and back when all these AMCs were common, the Pacers really did stand out because of their styling (and I thought they were ugly as sin). I also thought Gremlins were ugly because of their rear styling, but not altogether bizarre like the Pacers. Now I appreciate the idiosyncrasies of both designs. Maybe because a family member owned a Matador, I was just so familiar with it that I didn't think anything of it? Looking at objectively now, I've got to admit it's a bit fugly. Still, in the Matador's defense, aside from the front end restyle they gave it in 1974, the rest of the body styling was pretty conventional.

Tim, really like this, especially the "corrected" roof opening and wood work...

Really nice. This is what an A coupe should look like!

Outstanding build as always! Gotta agree, nicest version of this kit that I've seen, I believe.

One other source that I know of for a pair of Spyders (NOT a full set of four) would be certain versions of the old Monogram 1/24 scale (bad) 1969 Camaro. These versions came with a pair of Spyders for the rear, and what I believe are supposed to be Motor Wheel Flys for the front. I never had this version myself, so I can't speak regarding how decent these wheels actually are. Being an old 1/24th Monogram kit, there may be a size difference as well, although some older Monogram kits seemed to have underscale wheels that do interchange with 1/25 kits. Not to sidetrack the discussion too much, but this wheel combo (Motor Wheel Spyders in back, Motor Wheel Flys up front) was high dollar equipment on early '70s Pro Stockers. For these applications, Motor Wheel custom built all-alloy Spyders (no steel rim like the street versions). The Flys were also race-only magnesium wheels that were too fragile to run on the street. Bogart Wheels patterned their Fly Star wheels after them, and they were also the inspiration for the Weld Pro Star design. Whenever I see pics of these early Pro Stockers running Motor Wheel Flys, it's jarring to me because it looks like such a modern design, even though it's not...